Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

The art of gaming, part III: E3 through a painter’s eyes

Adam Rosenberg
By
art gaming part iii e3 painters eyes 2014 artist joshua mongeau 061214
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s hard to capture the experience of being at E3 in words. Video gaming’s own annual Lollapalooza aims to deliver a single message to a variety of parties, from gamers to retailers: Buy our stuff.

And to that end, the event is designed around spectacle. The most popular games go big, loud, and pretty, and their individual appearances at E3 are meant to capture that spirit in a way that can be writ large across a number of different mediums. Words alone don’t convey all of the sights and sounds of such an event.

With that in mind, we’ve commissioned artist Joshua Mongeau to bring you a slightly different take on E3. Each day, we’ll be sharing pieces of original artwork that reflect in some way on the popular games and talking points of the show, as seen through the eyes of a creative-minded observer. For more beautiful eye candy, check out Part I, Part II and Part IV of this week’s Art of Gaming series.

Related

8-Bit Battle Link

8 Bit Battle Link © Joshua Mongeau
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Legend of Zelda series gets turned on its head in Hyrule Warriors, an action game from Tecmo Koei that falls in line behind Dynasty and Samurai Warriors series’. In Hyrule, Link and his pals take on armies of familiar baddies in knockdown brawls. More than just a colorful riff on the new game, 8-Bit Battle Link also nods to Nintendo’s scrappy comeback potential as the publisher finds new ways to dodge criticism with fresh, fan-pleasing ideas.

Yuki Blast

Yuki Blast © Joshua Mongeau
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Another acknowledgment of E3’s ever-present abundance of progression hook-driven shooters, Josh did what so few of the AAAers seem capable of doing in Yuki Blast: he put the spotlight on a battle-suited, ass-kicking female. This is no distressed damsel, no frail foil. She’s armed, armored, and ready to save the day.

Paulentina and The Leader

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”
― Jim Rohn

Paulentina © Joshua Mongeau The Leader © Joshua Mongeau

These two pieces share more than just a visual connection; they’re a dual celebration of empowered female protagonists that follow a narrative arc of sorts. First is Paulentina, anchored by a quote from author Jim Rohn that contemplates the challenges of leadership. The pulled-out perspective shows a woman standing tall; she’s all alone, but she’s proud, strong, and unburdened. The Leader brings our subject into sharper focus, flanked more directly by the spirit of Rohn’s quote and imbued with the spirit of the powerful female leaders that precede her. She’s not alone, and she never really was. She’s the leader.

Pig Soup

Pig Soup © Joshua Mongeau
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pig Soup gets meta in more ways than one. Josh is riffing here on Hohokum, Honeyslug’s action-free “no stress” game that is itself the product of a collaboration with artist Richard Hogg. The text at the center of the piece — ‘I am tired of being reincarnated’ — speaks to the “shoot, die, repeat” pattern of play that fuels the industry’s most popular games, and the hunger many players have for something more contemplative, experiences that games like Hohokum and Entwined address.

Games don’t simply have to be an endless cycle of fighting and dying; it’s not a requirement that protagonists are merely pigs being led to slaughter. The Twitch branding that frames the pieces is an appeal to all gamers, everywhere: Pay attention! Watch this! Order something other than the pig soup of violent games!

artist Joshua MongeauJoshua Mongeau is an accomplished artist in a variety of mediums. In addition to his work on branding, logos, illustrations, and advertising, he’s also created art for children’s books, film/video games (including work for Lucasfilm), and the graphic novel, M.E.N.D. You can check out more of Josh’s work on his portfolio website right here.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
You need to get this oddball Zelda game for free before the 3DS eShop closes
legend of zelda twilight princess nintendo wii grandma grandmother reddit 755 hours

The day of reckoning is fast approaching: The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShop isclosing down on March 27. When that happens, you’ll no longer be able to make any digital purchases on those systems. Considering that several games on each platform only ever got digital releases, it’s creating a bit of a preservation nightmare. Hidden gems that never came to another platform, like Affordable Space Adventures, will be totally lost to time.

But it isn’t just obscure indies that are impacted by that change: One of Nintendo’s biggest franchises is about to lose a piece of its storied history. You’ve only got just over a week to grab a certain Legend of Zelda game before it disappears forever -- though it’s probably not one you’re expecting.

Read more
Nintendo confirms that it won’t be part of E3 2023
Pikmin and Bulborb in Pikmin 4.

Nintendo has confirmed reports that it won't be participating in E3 2023, meaning the gaming trade show will be missing one of its key vendors when it returns in-person this June.
"We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," a Nintendo spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] and E3."
After taking 2020 and 2022 off and being digital-only in 2021, this year was supposed to mark the grand return of E3, which was once a dominant game industry trade show that attracted every big video game company. Although Sony hasn't participated since 2019, it still came as a shock in January when IGN reported that both Nintendo and Microsoft would not be attending E3 this year as well. It appears that the report is true, as Microsoft has not confirmed any E3-related events outside of its independently run Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.
Nintendo skipping E3 2023 not only takes away a vendor that dominated the show floor in previous years, but also raises questions about whether or not the company will hold an exciting Nintendo Direct around then. While Nintendo typically holds a big showcase with lots of first-party game announcements around June every year, in 2022 it only held a third-party driven Partner Showcase in June. Now that we know it won't be at E3 2023, we're left to wonder when exactly then next big Nintendo Direct will be. 
E3 2023 will take place between June 13 and June 16, but don't expect Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft to have a big presence there.

Read more
Here’s what E3 2023 could look like without Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft
Playstation character wall at E3 2018

Let's start with the good news: E3 2023 will be held in its in-person format once again after three long years of digital events necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this time with ReedPop at the helm. The bad news is that Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo -- gaming's "Big 3" -- may not show up at the industry’s biggest convention this summer.

This is according to a report from IGN citing multiple sources, who claimed the companies won’t be a part of the show or make appearances on the floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center in any way. Their absence from this year’s E3, especially Nintendo’s, may come as a shock to the gaming community, but it's not such a surprise when looking at the past few iterations of E3. Even before the pandemic locked everyone down in 2020, Sony and Xbox had been hosting their own E3-style livestreams, so it was more likely they would do it again this year anyway. Nintendo, on the other hand, managed to show off its upcoming games via Nintendo Direct streams and at its booth, console kiosks and all.

Read more